Perky League: Lucky 13 for Collegeville in rout

Usually a ball takes a bad hop, or someone misplays an easy grounder, and sooner rather than later, the game snowballs out of control.

That’s what happened in Lower Providence Tuesday, where Trooper picked a poor night to have an off game. Facing defending league champ Collegeville, they dropped their Perkiomen Valley Twilight League contest against the Black Sox 13-0.

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It was evident that it wasn’t going to be the Tribe’s night early. Three errors in the first led to four unearned runs, and the Black Sox used that momentum to tack on another five in the following frame.

“When you score four in the first and back it up with five in the second, it makes everyone’s job a lot easier,” Collegeville manager Bob Letter said. “We had pretty close to a full lineup today, and everybody contributed one through nine.”

The second batter of the next inning, Collegeville’s Lenny Del Grippo, hit a solo home run, and Chris Connor capped the Black Sox’ scoring exploits in the seventh with his three-run shot to left.

“It was an all-around good team effort today,” Letter said. “We hit the ball, played solid defense, turned a couple double plays, and our pitchers threw strikes. When we do that, we’re going to be tough to beat.”

Paul Spiewak started for Collegeville and threw six strong, striking out five while scattering three hits. Scott Young struck out two in the final frame.

“You know that if you can keep a team under five runs, you’ve got a pretty good chance of winning,” Spiewak said of the run support his team provided. “When they do it in the first couple innings, it lets you relax and throw strikes.”

“Any time you can get good movement off of your fastball, change up, and slider, and be able to locate, it’s great,” Spiewak said.

“He’s not the youngest guy in the league, but he certainly understands how to pitch,” Letter said of Spiewak. “There are guys that throw harder or maybe have better stuff than him, but he’s the complete package.”

Del Grippo finished 2-for-4 on the night with three runs scored and two runs batted in. Connor was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

For Trooper, PJ Regan went 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of singles. John Swarr and player-manager Brian Hartsell each went 1-for-2.

“You have these nights,” Hartsell said. “Collegeville hit the ball around. We didn’t walk many guys and maybe hit one batter, but they hit the ball. It’s a credit to them. They hit the ball. That’s all there is to it.”

“We’ve got to come out and score some runs,” Hartsell continued. “That’s two straight games that we’ve been shut out. We’ve really got to start hitting the ball and get back on track.”

Trooper plays King of Prussia at 6 p.m. Thursday, at home, and Collegeville hosts Nor-Gwyn Thursday at 6 p.m.